02/19/10 23:24, by , Categories: Stray Thoughts

So, Elton John said "I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems." Interesting. His comment has elicited outrage by many Christians for stating that Jesus was gay. What I find interesting is part of the underlying assumption here. Since Jesus was compassionate, loving, forgiving, etc., he is obviously gay because those are gay qualities. Really now? For years and years now, our culture has been redefining manhood, and I am afraid that the homosexual movement has had help from those who are against homosexuality. We have allowed manhood to become more and more "macho" and allowed "softer" traits such as compassion, tenderness, emotions, sensitivity, etc. to be equated with feminine or "gay" tendencies. This trend really bugs me. To illustrate, let me point to the Lord of the Ring movies. I love the books and I really enjoyed the movies with one glaring exception. They weakened almost all the male characters. Some examples.

Aragorn: In the book; purposefully pursuing his destiny as king. Strong. In the movie; fleeing his destiny, hesitant, needing to be convinced by his woman friend.
Elrond: In the book; raised Aragorn to be King, supportive of daughter, working to help men succeed. In the movie; sullen, doubtful of Aragorn, contemptuous of men, pressures daughter to do what he wants.
Faramir: In the book; more noble than brother, not tempted by ring, helps Frodo in quest. In the movie; living in shadow of brother, tries to take Frodo home to prove self, only finally wakes up to right thing to do.
Gandalf: In the book; ready to face Moria, even knowing the danger. In the movie; afraid to go into Moria, tries to avoid it even though Aragorn recommends it.
King Theoden: In the book; once awakened by Gandalf, leads his people to a confrontation with the enemy. In the movie; ignores Gandalf's advice and flees with his people only to have conflict find him anyway, then finally agrees to fight.

Each man is made less noble, less virtuous. It is the way our society is downplaying men. A man need not be "macho" to be a man. A strong man is strong enough to be sensitive, to be compassionate, to lead while being emotionally honest and open. It is weakness to have to suppress these things. Jesus was not gay or effeminate because he was compassionate and forgiving. He was strong! God is described as "the strong one like a mother nursing her child." Men, be strong, be protectors, be manly, not macho. Understand that vulnerability, compassion, forgiveness, sensitivity do not make you less of a man, they make you more of one. As Christians, lets us avoid playing into the stereotypes of manhood provided by the world. It is twisted and backwards. Let's be real men, like Jesus!